TNQ editor Pamela Mulloy says the festival, held at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, was an opportunity to raise awareness, and increase subscriptions and donations. It’s hard to make a literary magazine visible, she says. We wanted to find a way to do what we do on the pages, which is to celebrate Canadian literature, but do it face to face.

From left to right: Miranda Hill, Carrie Snyder, Alison Pick, and Kerry-Lee Powell at the Wild Women Panel (photo: Brian St. Denis)

Approximately 230 people attended a Friday-night event with Terry Fallis, while over 150 people participated in Saturday’s activities, which included a workshop on writing great sex scenes, led by Russell Smith, Tamara Faith Berger, and Martha Schabas. Other highlights included a women writers’ panel with TNQ authors Alison Pick, Miranda Hill, Carrie Snyder, and Kerry-Lee Powell, and a spotlight on three CanLit Michaels: Helm, Redhill, and Crummey.